Soak Up the Sun
by theshippingmechanic
Summary: Eleven years after the events of Start of Something New,Percy and Annabeth have found each other once more. But things changed. Percy, now a father, Annabeth, not truly the architect she aspired to be. Percabeth, Caleo, Jasper, Soloangelo. Rights and credits go to Rick Riordan, or if a song, the songwriter(s), singers, etc. Rated T for violence, possible suggestive themes, etc.
1. My Kid Defeats Airport Security

Percy

The handcuffs were not my fault. Ok, let me rephrase that. The handcuffs were indirectly my fault because I unknowingly adopted an adorable thieving monkey for a daughter. What happened was after we got off the plane from North Carolina, after we said goodbye to Annabeth, airport security pulled me to into a holding room due to what they called 'questionable contents' of my secured (padlocked) luggage. The contents included a bunch of water samples from where I had worked in Louisiana, Georgia, and North Carolina, as well as odd looking souvenir rocks.

They (a shorter man named Sanders and a high cheek boned African American woman called Ruiz) left Felicity and I alone in the room while they searched our luggage. She sat on my lap, alert and attentive to the surroundings, playing with a paper clip she had found on the floor. I stood up and walked to the one way mirror, setting Felicity on the metal chair. I studied it, pretending to be looking for someone behind the glass while really thinking about Annabeth.

Annabeth Chase was the girl I had fallen for in high school. It's been eleven years since, and apparently neither of us has gotten over our feelings (luckily for me). She went off and did great things in the architecture business, I watched her facebook page from afar (sue me. I like her), checking it every now and then. I got busy about four years ago, when I found a tiny blonde bundle covered in sand on the beaches of Louisiana. I'll get back to that later.

I suddenly felt cold metal pressing onto my wrists as the _zip-snap_ of handcuffs locked shut. "Felicity," I said without turning around, "Would you kindly remove the cuffs? And give them back to Agent Ruiz?"

Felicity giggled. "But Daddy it took me so long to get them!"

"If you keep this up, then you'll be the one in handcuffs."

"Then I'll just get out of them!" She replied enthusiastically.

"Oh yeah? Bet you can't do it."

Instantly I felt the clicking of something undoing the locking mechanism. The cuffs popped free and Felicity held up the paperclip as she cried triumphantly, "Told you so!"

I barely let out a 'yep' before I started tickling her. Felicity is very ticklish and she loves it. "Not fair! Not fair! Cheater!" She gasped in between laughing spurts.

Someone coughed. I swung Felicity up and onto my shoulder before I turned around. "Yes?"

It was Agent Ruiz. "You're free to go- are those my handcuffs?"

Felicity was playing with them, and then looked up to give the Agent big blue puppy eyes. "Can I keep them?"

Agent Ruiz was flabbergasted. "How did you-did she- _is that why she hung on my leg?_ " Felicity laughed and threw the cuffs underhanded to the Agent. "I think she likes to go for women because she hopes they won't notice or mind a cute six year old around them."

"You mean she's done this before?"

"Several times. Though never at an airport before. Last time it was a police officer's badge and cuffs, before that a tech geek's watch… You get the gist."

The agent looked me up and down. "You seem less of the father type and more of a surfboard rat."

I shrugged, and then noticed Ruiz's eyes lingered on my abdominal region. Which shouldn't have been visible. Was I wearing a tight shirt or something? "Um. Well. It just kinda happened one day. So, are we good to go?"

"Mmm, yeah… You're good… to go!" Her eyes snapped to mine.

"Great." I said, dropping Felicity gently to the floor. Her small palm found mine quickly, and I grabbed the rolling suitcase that held our clothing from our last trip. "All your other luggage is waiting for you at the front desk." She stammered.

We left the room and were almost at the front desk, when there was a cry of "Percy!"

It was my mom and Paul. I had only enough time to set my suitcase upright before I was engulfed in a hug. She looked the same as the last time I'd seen her, but with a few more strands of gray in her hair. "Hey Mom."

She bent my head down with her hands and gave me a kiss on the forehead before giving me another quick hug. Paul scratched the back of his neck as he shook my hand. "She was getting anxious."

I laughed, and then gestured to the miniature blonde hiding behind my leg. "Mom, Paul, I'd like you to meet Felicity. Felicity, meet Grandma and Grandpa." I pulled her tenderly from behind me. Mom dropped down to one knee and hugged her. "Hello Felicity. Percy says you love chocolate. At our house I like to make chocolate chip cookies every Friday."

"Never helps my diet." Paul muttered.

Felicity looked at Mom in adoration. "Really?"

Mom smiled. "Really really. You can help make them if you want to."

"Yes!" and she threw her hands into the air.

Paul grabbed the water samples' case, and then led us out to the parking lot. The day was hot for early May, but the humidity was next to nothing and a breeze blew our hair around. Mom held Felicity's hand while crossing the parking lot. As we neared the car, I started to recognize the taillights. And the bumper. And-

"Is that _my_ Jeep?"

It was. It had obviously not weathered my time away from home well; the wheel wells were rusted through the paint, hail dents in the hood and front fenders. The clear coat was peeling on the driver's half-door; on the passenger's rear fender it had been smashed in.

"I kept it running. Figured you'd want it back someday." Paul intoned quietly as we loaded the luggage into the rear.

"Paul, why did you want to use this thing to pick them up? There's no cargo space." Mom asked.

"It has sentimental value to Percy. I figured a dose of his history would be great for a reentry to Cincy."

I shrugged. "Worked." I lifted Felicity into the back seat, and then climbed over the tailgate to wedge myself into the seat next to her and the cargo. Paul started the car and drove home.

~oOo~

We ate dinner as a family, three generations. One biological mother, two adoptive fathers and one adorable blonde kid. After we finished and were doing the dishes, I was still laughing about Paul's attempt to work my grampa's old Catalina. "You did _what_ to the _what_?"

His expression was sour. "I forgot it wasn't a normal H pattern, ok? I wanted to redo the linkages like I saw on YouTube. All I did was reverse the pattern."

Mom was almost crying at this point in the story. "And then after wheeling it out to the front of the driveway, he guns the engine and shoots backwards and hits your Jeep!"

So that's how it lost a taillight. We're all laughing about it when 'Fly Me to the Moon' by Frank Sinatra began issuing from the living room. Paul grabbed Mom and pulled her to the room. "It's the song-"

"-They played at our wedding. I remember." She finished, and they began to dance.

Felicity looked guilty. "I didn't touch it."

Mom and Paul had gotten a vintage 1960 AMI K-100 jukebox in celebration of Mom's fifth novel selling a million copies. They'd filled it with Sinatra, Martin, Cash, a couple of Bob Hope live recordings, Jonathan Winters, and newer artists; ELO, AC/DC, Van Halen, Skynyrd, Straight, CCR, and a couple of even newer country singles.

I laughed, set her on top of my feet, then took her hands and started to dance.

 _You are all I long for, all I worship, and adore_

 _In other word, please be true!_

 _In other words-In other words…_

 _I… Love… You!_

As the song ended, Mom clapped and Paul leaned against the doorframe with his hands in his pockets. "It's been years since I've heard that one."

"Felicity, you seem to like the box, pick another." Mom encouraged kindly. A breeze blew through the open window as Felicity clicked the buttons for the next song. The sun was setting, sending the clouds into a lovely purple-orange-pink mess. The needle dropped and the crackling record began to turn.

It was Felicity's favorite song, the first one she could remember. And maybe the only one she knew. It was played from speakers mounted on poles in the sandy beaches, played on the radio, my iPod and eventually a beater guitar I found during our travels. The guitar in the song strummed a couple of chords before the lyrics started;

 _My friend the Communist,_

 _Holds meetings in his RV_

 _I can't afford his gas,_

 _So I'm stuck here watching TV_

Felicity loved singing along to the song, and when I sang with her we sounded passable. Nothing screamed or ran away when we did it.

 _I'm, I'm gonna soak up the sun,_

 _I'm gonna tell everyone to light-en up_

 _I'm gonna tell 'em that I've got no one to blame_

 _But every time I feel lame, I'm looking up._

 _Gonna soak up the sun._

I often thought of a different blonde when I sang. The song reminded me of sunsets on car hoods, dirt road racetracks, and… Well, her. I wondered if the field was still empty, or if it had been taken over.

I looked down. Felicity was on the floor, head lolling against a chair. I smiled and picked her up and put her against my shoulder. It was our usual routine. She'd fall asleep, then when I put her in bed she wakes up. "I've made the guest room ready for her." Mom whispered as she placed a hand on Felicity's forehead. "Thanks"

I took her past my old room and placed her under the covers of the guest room's bed, where she promptly opened her eyes and asked, "Story time?"

I pretended to think and scratched my chin. "Hmm. Story. What story haven't you heard?" I faked a 'eureka' moment. "Oh! The story of the Wise Girl and the Seaweed Brain!"

"But Daddy you've already told me that one!"

"Not like this. Once upon a time, there was a gray-eyed girl," I poked Felicity's stomach to make her laugh every time I said an adjective. "Now this Wise Girl was a beautiful blonde" (here I tapped Felicity's head) "Though rather short, she nevertheless caught the attention of the Seaweed Brain."

"The Seaweed Brain was never a clever boy. He believed in only what he could see. Most of his life consisted of luck and love from his mother. But when he met the Wise Girl, she taught him that magic was real. The Wise Girl took his heart and gave the Seaweed Brain her own." I tapped my chest, where the old triangular scar hid underneath my shirt.

"Years later, the Seaweed Brain found the Wise Girl, on a fast carriage to his old home. But by this time he had become a man with a child, named Locke. Locke liked the Wise Girl, as did the Seaweed Brain. And-"

"And then they got married and lived happily ever after!" Felicity chirped happily.

I smiled. "Maybe someday, 'Liss." I kissed her on the forehead, then turned the lights off and shut the door. "Maybe someday." I repeated softly, outside her door.


	2. I Lied About the Architecture Part

Chapter Two: I Lied About the Architecture Part

Annabeth

I had him. The boy I'd fallen for- well, I guess he's a man now- he was back in my life. It took eleven years, but we were both ready for each other again.

And Felicity. _Felicity_. She was adorable, even by my broken and bashed child-cuteness-meter. My mind was still reeling from the shock of her. Percy Jackson; swimmer, ex- boyfriend, car lover, Marine Biologist, and now a father. And she reminded Percy of me!

Maybe she liked architecture or something. Of course, that was the me Percy knew in high school.

I picked up my cell phone, clicked Percy's cell phone number into the phone, and then immediately ended the call. God, _why_ was I so nervous? It had only been a day since our airport/plane moment. My heart pounded in my chest and- was that my heartbeat in my eyelids?

I sighed and stood up from the couch to stretch. My apartment was small but nice.  
I liked it even if I had to leave it mostly spartan. No pictures, no television or desktop computer, just basic furniture, appliances and a laptop. The laptop was standard issue, chosen so as not to be conspicuous. The tech division modified it so that any attempted access to the hard drive would result in all the files being wiped.

I pulled out my notebook and flipped to the last page I had been working on. It was a design of a house I'd been working on for months. I kept changing details to the floor plans that make restructuring or modifying parts of the house necessary.

After five minutes of trying to work on the design, it was obvious that nothing was going to magically pop into my head to make it worthwhile. I needed to clear my head. But I wanted Percy. Then my phone rang a number I didn't recognize. "Hel-lo?"

"Annabeth?" A woman's voice asked.

"Who is this?"

"You don't know me by the sound of my voice? I'm insulted. We knew each other a long time ago, and Percy asked me to ask you to come to The Spot for dinner. Tonight."

"Who is this?"

There was a rush of air as the mystery woman sighed. "Calypso!"

The gears clicked in my head as I made the connection. "Oh, hey! How are you? I haven't heard from you or Leo since he asked how to build a house. How'd that go? And being Mrs. Valdez?"

Calypso laughed, "Just be here at The Spot at 6:30."

I nodded. "That's in an hour and a half. Good timing. See you then."

"Oh and Annabeth? It's good to hear your voice again." Then the line went dead. I smiled to myself and went into the bathroom to shower.

But as soon as I pulled off my tank top and looked in the mirror I saw myself. This has to happen to everyone. Thinking about what marks their career has left on them. The sealed-up hole in my right collarbone, the dozens of tiny nameless, timeless, placeless scars across my chest, or the ugly scar from a _kukri_ in-

I breathed in. Shower. Right. I took off the rest of my clothes. As soon as I stepped in, the cold sharpened my thoughts into the immediate necessities for the mission. Obviously, Percy would be kept in the dark. The owner of Viridian Tech was only known by the moniker 'Kronos" and the file had no picture on record. The briefing at Langley had been almost useless, it only pointed out hints of smuggling and small errors in the monetary side of the company. And they wanted me to bring down the entire company.

Did I mention I hate working for the Central Intelligence Agency?

And this wasn't just the CIA. No, the bureaucratic "Red Tape Gun" FBI wanted in on the takedown too. They still hadn't decided on how they would do so.

It hadn't been difficult to convince Percy that I really had been working on architecture; I just talked about buildings I'd designed until I saw his eyes glaze over. I wasn't ever lying- I designed them all in my sketchbook. Percy told me about Felicity, how he found her on a beach, and what it was like as a single father. Felicity slept the entire plane ride home.

I turned the shower off when the hot water ran out, then toweled down and slipped into the only dress I was allowed, a skirt styled sky-blue strapless with shorter black heels. I applied makeup in the bathroom, and then strapped a small dagger to my upper thigh. You never know.

I stepped outside and locked my apartment door, then walked to the parking lot. I rolled down the windows of the (again, issued with intent) 2005 Impala I'd picked up last night, then turned the key.

A voice echoed through my mind as I drove, _"Man, it already had_ style _, what it needed was_ power _!"_ and I smiled and wondered how Leo was doing with his home life, since his business one was doing fantastic.

I turned off the highway, onto a paved street and then onto a dirt road. The road was the same, but the landscape was different. There was a crimson mailbox at the end of a gravel driveway. The Spot had been sparse, but now smaller trees dotted the field, and the field itself was neatly mowed. And there was a small white two-story near the rear of the field. A giant flower garden grew up around it, expanding out and into the yard and part of the countryside.

I was so shocked at the sight of it all; I barely noticed my arms turning the wheel to drive into the gravel driveway. I put the car in park and got out in a daze. The memories I'd made here were important even if they were few. There was a small aluminum car port off to the right, under which a faded red car sat covered by a blue tarp. Around this were more flowerbeds, and on the windowsills sat even more flowers- violets by the looks of them.

I rang the doorbell, standing on the front verandah. There was a loud shuffling and the door was opened by a woman. And this woman, well, the only phrase that does her justice is 'drop dead gorgeous'. Her caramel eyes were set in a timeless face that was framed by her flowing hair, making a nice contrast to the light red dress she wore. I started to figure my words out after a solid fifteen seconds of awkward silence. "Hi, um, do you-"

"Annabeth?" she interrupted.

I stopped talking. "Calypso?"

She shot through the screen door separating us and hugged me so hard I felt my eyes begin to pop out "Crushing…me," I gasped.

"Sorry. You look so different! You're tanner, I think." Calypso grinned. "C'mon. You look like you could use something to eat." And she led me into the kitchen.

Calypso had decided to make her own jellies and jams so she had plenty of fresh fruit for us to snack on. "Leo'll be home from work soon. Apparently something malfunctioned with this new plane they developed and Jason crashed."

"Is he ok?"

"Oh he's fine. He flew a lot of planes while he was in the Air Force so he's had enough practice of when to jump out of it."

The door shut, and two voices emanated from the hallway, one clearly Leo's and one deeper, more masculine that I couldn't quite place. "I'm telling you the only problem is with the thruster gimbal!" I heard Leo's voice say. "Talk to Palmer, he's had success recently with stuff like that." The deeper voice said. I knew I'd heard it before, but the last time it was more static-y and there was ambient air noise…

They walked in. Leo was wearing jeans and a plaid cotton shirt and work boots, while the other blonde-haired man with a square jaw wore a green flightsuit. I looked at the second man, and just as I envisioned a pilot's helmet overtop the face, Jason began to speak, "Tri-Annabeth? Is that you? It's been years!"

Jason had never been the best of liars. Technically, yes, it had been years. Three, exactly. "Jason!" I got up and hugged them both. Leo did the old-fashioned air kiss on each cheek, and then did a really bad French accent while saying nasally "Eeet has been such a loong teeime!"

I smiled. "Sorry to sound rude, but when's Percy getting here?"

"He's picking Piper up from work and then heading here." Jason answered.

"Jason and I carpool because we're totally for that whole save the earth thing." Leo interjected. "And because I use a very fuel efficient car."

"You had to name it Happy." Jason muttered.

"Darn right I did! Festus the Honda. It has a voice-activated startup system coded to me saying its name."

Calypso raised an eyebrow. "And all I get to drive is the stupid Impala?"

"We made some good memories in that car." Leo countered.

"And in the back seat," Jason whispered in my ear, and I grinned.

The doorbell rang. "Woot!" screamed Leo, who then sprinted to the door. I heard him yell, "Bro!"

"Leo," I heard a woman's voice say-Piper- "Did Jason seriously wreck another plane?"

"Yep!" Leo said happily, "You should have seen the fireball… Well, maybe not."

They entered the kitchen. In the incandescent lighting, Percy's skin was golden. He smiled at me and I felt my heart miss a couple of beats. His eyes were the same color as seafoam today and they still made me want to kiss him.

"Jason!" Piper looked like a model. She had the long-legs and purple dress thing going on and styled hair. Her makeup was minimal, but what she did with blush was incredible. She decked him in the shoulder. Very un-model like. "I was worried about you!"

She pulled him into a hug and then a quick kiss. Jason smiled. "You know I can survive anything."

Percy cleared his throat. "Jason, Leo, Calypso, I'd like to introduce my daughter Felicity. Felicity, meet Mr. and Mrs. Valdez, and Mr. Grace."

Felicity peeked her blonde head out from behind Percy's leg. "Hi." She whispered.

Leo swept an imaginary hat off of his head, dropped to one knee and bowed low. "Ms. Jackson, it is truly an honor." He said gravely.

Calypso laughed, and then gestured to Percy asking permission to hold her. He nodded, and she picked Felicity up. "Hey Felicity. You can call me Aunt Calypso. And that's Uncle Leo." She pointed to Leo.

"Hey what about us?" Jason protested.

Calypso looked at the couple sternly. "Not until you're married."

Jason and Piper blushed. Felicity still looked apprehensive about her surroundings, and hung on to Calypso's neck. "Hey, Felicity, relax. It's ok. Do you like tacos?" Leo asked.

Felicity's head snapped toward Leo. "Tacos?"

Percy groaned. "I hope you have a lot of tacos."

We slowly gravitated towards the back deck, where meat and-tofu? - was grilling on a 55 gallon drum that was split down the middle, hinged, and had legs welded on.

"It's Taco Madness night, man. There's tons. None of us eat lunch in preparation for this," Jason said.

"Yay!" and Felicity threw up her fists, and then toppled headfirst out of Calypso's arms. Calypso shouted something indistinguishable from the other adult's cries of shock, except for Percy who remained silent. _Your child is falling and you're not react-_

Felicity caught herself above the floor with her hands and performed a front flip onto her feet. "Ha!"

Percy placed her up on his shoulder. "Nice one, 'Liss. You really got the hang of it."

Felicity observed the stunned adults from her perch like some weird bird. "Daddy wouldn't let me take-" She stopped and considered her words, "Jim-nast-icks."

"So she taught herself," Percy continued. "By watching the spy/action movie _Blue Devil_."

Piper was doubled over laughing. "Felicity, come here."

"Why?"

"That was my movie! I need to hug you."

I smiled. I had forgotten Piper McLean was an actress. I'd been required to watch _Blue Devil_ and point out the flaws in the combat scenes. "I saw that. Pretty good fight moments."

Piper snorted. "I hope you're kidding. All it was were different camera angles on the same fighting movements. Shame too, I did learn some moves."

"I'll bet Annabeth could beat you in a match." Percy teased.

"You're on Jackson. What say you, Annabeth?" Piper turned her gaze to me.

"Nah. I'm not one for fighting." I said quietly, thinking back to my _krav maga_ training. My muscles began to feel the phantom movements of years past. "Besides, you're the one with training. Who said I had any?"

Piper rolled her eyes. "I can tell when someone's fought before. I'm weird like that."

I shrugged. "Ok. I took a couple of self defense classes." I lied easily as we walked to the grass behind the patio, everyone else hanging back but staying nearby.

She grinned evilly. "Hope you're not afraid to get bruised!"

 _I'm not the one who's gonna hurt after this._

We squared up, she in a boxer's stance, while I let my arms hang loose at my sides. We started circling, as Calypso called out, "Careful of my flowers!"

"We'll try," I murmured, just as Piper threw her first left cross. I swayed backwards, letting Piper unbalance herself. The cross was followed up by a quick right hook, then a right uppercut. I dodged the uppercut again by swaying backwards, but Pipes had already learned, and my abs clenched as she drove her other fist into my stomach. I staggered back. The woman was surprisingly strong.

 _Fine. Let's rock this._

I launched myself at Piper, grabbed the closest arm, and threw her to the ground. I fell with her.

She was faster to recover, and was already moving in a stance to fight. As soon as I was standing, Piper hooked a leg around mine and kicked in the back of my knee. I fell to the ground. _Two can play at that game_. And I drove my elbow into the back of her leg, just above where the ankle pivots.

"OW! Alright alright, you win! Jeez Annabeth, that freaking hurt! Damn it!" She cried out.

"Looks like I'm not the only one going home with bruises, Achilles." I said happily.

"Shut up."

I offered her a hand up. She took it, and then pulled me into an embrace once she was off the ground. "Architects don't fight like that." Piper whispered in my ear.

I froze.


	3. I Just Had to Love Two Blondes

Percy

The next day was hot. The glare off the Jeep's hood was made worse by the fact that Felicity had stolen my aviators and cowboy hat and was now pretending she was a movie star, singing along to the radio. Well, more like musically yelling.

I followed the directions on my GPS to Piper's studio. Which was, in a much understated word, big. "Dad, that guy has antlers." Felicity said, pointing, as we pulled through a series of low buildings marked with numbers.

I looked at the man she was referring to. "Actually I think those are ram's horns. They're a little different."

"Oh." And we meandered slowly until we found building 19. This one was no different, a long, low, peeling gray paint cinderblock building and only a couple windows in the front. However, the purple-dress woman in front of it popping pink bubblegum bubbles made a slight difference to the scenery.

I got out of the car. "Piper!"

She grinned. Her hair was braided in a couple of places, but mostly it hung loose. "Hey Perce. Long time no see huh?"

I hugged her. "Been a while. This is my daughter, Felicity."

I turned around. She wasn't behind me like usual. Felicity was still in the car yelling along to the radio. "Yeah, that's her."

"Awwwwww, she's so cute!" Piper cooed as we walked back to the Jeep.

"'Liss, this is Piper McLean. She's an act-"

"What's in your hair?" Felicity interrupted. Piper ran a hand through it. "What?"

Felicity pointed to her braids. "Those things."

Piper laughed. "I thought there was a bug in my hair again or something. They're braids. Want me to give you one?"

"Yes!"

"Get in the backseat and do it, we'll be late." I said.

"What, you think Leo and Jason are ever on time for anything? Ever? The last thing they were on time for was the Monaco F1 Grand Prix, and Jason was almost disqualified for driving with only a pair of jeans and his helmet because they got there about five minutes before the cars were rolled onto the track."

I whistled and started the car. Piper began tying Felicity's hair into braids. "Jason joined the Air Force right out of high school, the idiot. I didn't see him for three straight years. Then he shows up in LA at my acting school out of nowhere!"

We were on the highway now, and we had to yell to keep the conversation going. All Calypso had said was that the Spot was nice tonight.

"He then worked test piloting for the military based out of California, just so I could finish my acting classes! When we got word that Leo was starting a racing company, we went back! Crazy, huh?"

She continued to talk (well, yell) about all the planes Jason had wrecked and the prototype cars he'd driven and/or crashed. Apparently he had a talent for hitting stuff that wasn't normally expected to be hit. Like a cow. With an F-16.

I pulled into the gravel drive that could only be Leo and Calypso's. I could see the old Impala's taillight peeking out from under a tarp, sitting in a car port. Leo's bronze-colored 2018 Acura NSX was parked behind the Impala, and I followed suit.

I took Felicity's hand as we walked to the door. Piper rang the doorbell and there was a "Woot!" from inside. It was Leo. "Bro!" he yelled as I opened the screen door to hug him.

"Dude, you smell like a greasefire met gasoline. What happened?"

"Tell you later." He grinned. "Hey Piper-"

"Leo," Piper interrupted, "Did Jason seriously wreck another plane?"

"Yep!" Leo said jovially, "You should have seen the fireball… Well, maybe not."

We walked into the kitchen. Immediately I zeroed in on the only blue thing there, which happened to be Annabeth's dress. It was kinda skirtish, with a black stripe around the middle. Without the black stripe it really wouldn't have fit with her eyes. But it worked.

Thinking clearly was not my strong suit whenever Annabeth was around. All I could manage was a smile, which to my great relief she returned. Good, she doesn't think I'm weird. Her eyes were lighter gray today.

Piper was busy punching/hugging/kissing Jason as I tried not to stare at Annabeth. I realized it had been quiet for a minute and saw Calypso glancing at the blonde miniature (once again) hiding behind my leg.

I cleared my throat, which was suddenly very dry, "Jason, Leo, Calypso, I'd like to introduce my daughter Felicity. Felicity, meet Mr. and Mrs. Valdez, and Mr. Grace."

I heard a timid "Hi." From around my knee level.

Leo introduced himself in the most ridiculous fashion by using his time spent onstage (back in high school when he was trying to impress Calypso. It actually worked) as a model.

Calypso held her next and introduced herself Leo more informally. She looked like she was so used to holding a six year old ball of wonder. We began to move outside through the sliding doors onto the deck behind the house, where there was a grill cooking something savory. Then Felicity did her falling act.

About a year ago, we watched Piper's movie _Blue Devil_ in a motel on the one occasion we'd gone to Hawaii _._ I had actually forgotten she was the lead actress, but once I saw her I knew. Anyway, in the movie, Piper's character does a bunch of acrobatic stuff, like balancing on stuff hundreds of yards in the air, doing flips and a thing called a kip-up.

Naturally, an impressionable five-year-old had decided immediately that she wanted to do those things, and begged me to let her take gymnastics classes. Seeing as how we were moving every four to five months, my answer was no. So she began teaching herself.

A wrist and ankle fracture, one rib crack and many, many, _many_ , bruises later, Felicity Jackson was capable of flips, rolls, any type of pool dive, tightrope walk (though she didn't like going above about 15 feet).

She also taught herself how to pick a basic pin-and-tumbler lock and police-issued handcuffs. And to pickpocket.

For the record, I did not encourage those last parts. I only really knew about the gymnastics.

I swear she'll be able to build or defuse a nuclear bomb without instructions one day.

But right now, Felicity performed her front flip. I'd be lying if I said my heart didn't stop for a second every time she did it. But it went flawlessly and she and I had to explain to the adults how it began.

"She taught herself, " I said, "By watching the spy/action movie _Blue Devil_."

Piper was almost crying with laughter. "Felicity, come here."

"Why?"

"That was my movie! I need to hug you."

"I saw that. Pretty good fight moments." Annabeth grinned. God she was beautiful.

Piper snorted her Coke up her nose. "I hope you're kidding. All it was were different camera angles on the same fighting movements. Shame too, I did learn some moves."

"I'll bet Annabeth could beat you in a match." I joked.

"You're on Jackson. What say you, Annabeth?" Piper looked at Annabeth, wiping her nose off with a napkin.

"Nah. I'm not one for fighting." Annabeth muttered, eyes on the sky.

"I can tell when someone's fought before. I'm weird like that."

"Ok. I took a couple of self defense classes." She pulled off her heels.

Piper bantered as they walked to the grassy area, and then went on the assault.

Annabeth began to move. It was like watching a dance. Only the people were trying to take each other down.

In a matter of a minute and a half, Annabeth had driven her elbow into Piper's Achilles tendon and made the appropriate joke to go with it. They hugged, then let go extremely quickly. Well, Annabeth let go quickly. Odd.

"Hey, Felicity, how many tacos do you want?" Jason asked, diverting my attention.

"Two!" She piped up.

"One." I said firmly.

"Please daddy?" Felicity begged.

"No. Thanks Jason. Just one for both of us."

"Oooook." And he handed us a plate with a couple of tacos.

Felicity and I took seats next to each other at the patio table, while Leo (next to me) and Calypso took the ends, leaving Jason, Annabeth (across from me) and Piper to find seats somewhere on the opposite side.

"Calypso what do you usually do while Leo's at work?" Annabeth asked.

 **"** I'm on the Board of Directors. Basically how that works is there are nine board members, each with one vote. Leo's the tenth member, with two votes. We decide which projects are viable and what changes the company go through. It's actually kind of fun."

 **"** What's the most recent project?" I asked

Leo grinned. "Dude, that's classified by the Board. I can't tell you anything about it yet. Want to hear about the last one?"

"Wasn't that the one where you tried to build a nuclear stapler?" Piper interjected.

"It almost worked! I just wasn't allowed to buy the plutonium. Funny thing about valuable elements though." He turned to Jason. "Remember that mountain you crashed into last year with that Hercules C-130?"

Jason paused while chewing his burger. "Yeah. The one in Colorado?"

"Been meaning to tell you this. When we were pulling the plane back to ground level, the crash apparently unearthed some elements from a meteor shower thousands of years ago. I had a friend of mine examine the stuff, and he said it doesn't match anything on the Periodic Table, and there are two substances. The first one we nicknamed Cosmium. It can be converted into a gas. It's more potent than nitrous injection."

"So racing applications?" Annabeth concluded.

"Yep. A couple others too. By the way Annabeth, thanks for the advice on our house." Added Calypso."

"Hey, no problem. All I did was give you guys some estimated numbers."

"It still helped. The basement is entirely your design. I wanted some old styled stuff in the kitchen. Like the fridge." Leo said.

Annabeth shrugged. "Whatever works."

"Ms. McLean how many movies have you made?" Felicity asked quietly, changing the subject.

I was surprised she asked. Normally, Felicity doesn't like to socialize unless she's totally comfortable with the people around her. She rarely ever was, because we moved so often. In fact, she hadn't had a friend beyond instant friends she made when at a beach.

Piper thought for a moment, "If you include the short movie I made for my audition for _Ring of Fire_ , six. Though I never made them Felicity. I had a role in one where I was only a speaking extra, so it kind of depends on what you mean."

"Hey Felicity, what do you like to do?" Jason asked through a mouthful of taco. Uh-oh.

"I like skiing, diving, dolphins, jim-nast-icks, painting, and locks."

"Locks of what?" Calypso broke in.

"Locks! Like the silver ones cops use."

"Handcuffs." I offered. "She likes picking them. That and any other kind of lock.'

"Yeah?" Leo rummaged around in his pocket, then pulled out a flat piece of plastic and set it on the table. "Bet you can't pick this."

The air on top of the plastic shimmered and then projected a holographic display of some complicated see-thru lock. I assumed. Felicity reached past me and pulled it toward her. Calypso gave Leo a sharp look. "I thought you promised not to bring work home."

He smiled. "Oh come on. Look how much fun she's having."

Felicity was spinning the dials and moving her fingers through the virtual pins and tumblers. At one point she pulled the entire device apart by spreading her hands. Meanwhile, Jason and Piper were having an argument.

"It's trident. Tri means three. That means three dents."

"Jason, a trident is not three dents! It's a Greek weapon used by the god Poseidon."

Though deep in concentration for the virtual lock, Felicity still interrupted the argument. "The trident was made by the Cyclopes for Poseidon when they made the Master Bolt and Helm of Darkness for Hades."

Everyone else stared. Of course, this made no difference to me and Leo, we'd been watching Felicity's fight with the virtual lock anyway for the past five minutes. "Daddy tells me the Greek stories before bed."

She was on the final pin, from what I could tell. Another minute of interested watching from the crowd and the virtual lock pinged, fell apart and made the Pac-Man dying sound. "I did it!"

Leo covered his face with his hands, "Noooooo!"

Felicity clapped her hands, grinning madly. "What do I get?"

Leo still had his hands over his face. Calypso answered for him, "Felicity, what would you like?"

"A favor." She answered immediately.

"Felicity." I warned.

She rolled her eyes. "I promise it'll be easy."

"Deal."

The evening slipped into night, and though Felicity didn't talk much more, she laughed and nodded as she listened. I watched Annabeth too. She seemed perfectly composed and radiant as ever, but acted weirdly whenever Piper threw a glance her way. Jason seemed to enjoy telling funny stories of the planes he'd crashed, but Leo was the best at making Felicity smile. He pulled faces and cracked jokes. Piper told tales of her battles with an actress rival named Drew, Calypso of Board stories. We discussed Nico as much as we could, none of us knew very much about him after high school.

The only one who didn't talk very much was Annabeth. Weird. She did talk about this new job she'd taken on, building a garden in downtown, but Annabeth couldn't tell us much because she hadn't started.

I looked around at about eleven. Chinese styled photovoltaic lanterns had come on, and were strung up around the deck. I hadn't given them much thought before, but they cast a warm glow over the patio and the garden/lawn behind it. I looked at Felicity, who, as usual, was asleep with head hanging backwards over her chair and her ponytail dangling straight down. Her hair is very heavy and dense. And she sheds. _Everywhere._

"Guys," I said quietly, "We're gonna head out."

"Awwww," Calypso and Jason crooned together.

I picked Felicity up, and carried her around the house. Everyone said a whispered goodbye except Annabeth, who got up and followed me to the Jeep. I lay Felicity in the passenger seat and put her seatbelt on.

When I turned around Annabeth was right in front of me, looking nervous, "Um, Percy, I don't think that-"

Then Leo called out, albeit sort of quietly, "Perce, come over here for a sec."

I looked at Annabeth, "Be right back."

I walked over to Leo, who stood in front of the tarp covered Impala. He was scribbling something on the back of a card. "This is the address of Valdez International. Give me a ring sometime, and I'll give you a tour." He handed me the card and then made a shooing motion. "Now go fall in love with the girl of your dreams again."

"Thanks man," and walked back to where Annabeth and Felicity were.

Annabeth took my hands and led me away from the Jeep slightly. She took a deep breath, "Percy, I don't think we can date just yet. I'm kind of out of my groove here and I- I'm just not ready."

I felt like my heart was squeezing into a golf ball. "Was eleven years not long enough?"

She looked at me desperately, like a wolf caught in a corner. "It's just not right- not right now."

I looked at her gray eyes, made even darker by the night. Then, very slowly, I kissed her right next to the corner of her mouth. "I'll wait Annabeth. But Felicity can't. My duty is first as a father."

"Okay." She whispered, an octave higher than her normal voice.

"I'll see you soon?"

"Okay. Yes. Soon."

"Goodnight Annabeth."

"'Night Percy."

The drive home was boring. Felicity was quiet the entire way there, but just when I tucked her into bed, she asked, "Daddy do you love Ms. Chase?"

I sighed and leaned on the door, knowing what was coming. "I think so 'Liss. But she can't be with me right now."

"But why not? She likes you."

"It's just… Something in her life makes it like that."

"Oh." And then she was quiet. "Will you tell me a story?"

I walked to her bedside table and pulled D'Aularies' Book of Greek Myths out of the drawer. "Sure thing kiddo. Which one do you want to hear?"

"Make it about the sun. I like the sun. It's warm and nice."

"Ooooookay. Let's see…" I flipped through the pages, found the one I wanted, and began to read. "'Helios, the sun, mounted his glowing chariot and drove out in great splendor…'"


	4. First Day of School, Kids

Annabeth

I closed the door to my apartment. The lights were off. My mind was still on process standby. My heart was in emotional shutdown.

Leo had called Percy over. And the moment Percy was out of earshot, Felicity opened her eyes and asked,

"Do you always carry a knife?"

The last time my heart had stopped like that was when I played Russian Roulette with two deranged children of an ex-SS officer, a Mossad agent, and Jason. That was my second mission, and my first with Jason.

"Knife? What knife?" I asked.

"The black one strapped to your leg. Do you always carry it?"

I looked back at Percy, who appeared to be rapidly ending his conversation with Leo. "Look, Felicity," I whispered urgently, "You can't say anything about the knife. Not Percy, Leo, Jason- No one. It has to be our secret, okay?"

Felicity studied my face, then nodded slowly. She was not a stupid six year old. "I promise. But you have to tell me why later."

"Okay. Yes. Fine. Later." And I walked to Percy so I could break our hearts.

Forty five minutes after this I stood in the apartment. Well, actually, I slid down the door and sat on the floor, then undid the straps of the knife holster off my thigh. I pulled the knife out, and studied the tool. It was matte black, the blade and handle each about two inches long curving downward along the entire length. There were saw teeth close to the hilt. How had Felicity seen it? No. That wasn't the problem. The problem was Piper. She was observant. It should have appeared to have been brawling with a hint of self-defense classes. Why did Percy want me to fight- No. That's paranoid. Percy can't possibly know anything.

If Piper figured it out, either she'd blow my cover or the CIA would bury her with so much paperwork no one would ever find her again. And despite my semi-bad history with Jason, I did want them to stay together.

But I couldn't be with Percy. Go figure. One of my last missions before retirement, and the man of my dreams returns to my life. The universe hates me.

I stood up and rubbed the faded tattoo on my shoulder blade, then walked to my kitchen table to compose a mission update to Langley. I left out meeting Percy and everyone. Oh well. Work/infiltration started on Monday. I had just tonight to mess around. Anyone else would have probably binge watched Netflix.

I decided to listen to music and work on my projects. Listening to Echosmith always seemed to help move my drawings along. I didn't think about Percy at all during my work. I hear that I really get into it.

Like, one time I was flying out of Warsaw on a two seat Sikorsky helicopter, and despite what the pilot reported as "Sixteen rockets and a shitstorm of bullets" I doodled a cartoon scene version of _Star Wars_ where Jango Fett stars in his own movie called _Jango Unchained_. I gave the pilot the drawing after we landed in Munich. He almost cried laughing, then bought me a snow globe in thanks7.

I still have that snow globe.

"Home" by Phil Phillips issued out of the laptop's speakers, and I felt my chest begin to tighten. I wished I had a home as a kid, it would have made life a lot easier now, but at least my life didn't suck worse than it had. I had Percy back then. And… Percy could have been family, at least in an extended sense.

I sucked in my breath. The air in the apartment was pleasantly cool, the couch warm from body heat.

And then my alarm went off, and I woke up.

This used to happen to me in college. I'd be doing something, usually homework, and then all of a sudden I'd wake up. This time, I was on my apartment floor, my cheek pressed into the hardwood. My six a.m. wake up call for calisthenics and exercise. I changed into running shorts, gray tank top, tied my hair into a ponytail, and went into the cold morning May air.

My apartment was in a suburban area, with a small commercial area nearby. The usual stuff was there, 15 minute oil change shops, small grocery stores, and a couple of restaurants. What caught my attention was a run-down gym that was probably painted purple at some point but was more like a faded lilac. Words were faded and chipped that it was unrecognizable beyond a capital letter R at the beginning. It was about three miles into my run, and although I never stop otherwise, I jogged in past the six cars in the small parking lot into a shabby room, where a female secretary sat in front of an ancient computer. "Can I help you?"

"Just curious. What's the name of this place?"

"Bellona's Trial. Our motto is, 'A workout worthy of a Spartan." She answered, somewhat mechanically.

"Spartans weren't Roman." I noted.

"The previous owner of this place was never known as a smart man," a new voice said. A black-haired woman stood before me, making no effort to hide the fact that she was sizing me up. She held out her hand. "Reyna Ramírez-Arellano. Owner of this… place."

I shook it. "Annabeth Chase. Uh, architect. Columbia. Class of '19."

Reyna Ramírez-Arellano arched an eyebrow. "Oh? And what are you doing here?"

"Curiosity. It'll kill me someday."

"Curiosity is a fickle thing. Come. See what we have for you." Her accent was unusual, Spanish- sounding, but more outlying province like.

Ramírez- Arellano led me through a pair of double doors that creaked badly. Bass reliant workout music played throughout a two story concrete block, and about five people were lifting weights, using the punching bag, or in the boxing ring.

"You box, do you not?"

I was startled by the sudden question. "No, I don't."

She gave me a piercing look, and I was reminded of myself being shown in a mirror in a city of bones in France. "Perhaps not… then."

Ramírez-Arellano walked around me, like a car inspection. "Tae Kwon Do… no that's not it. Nor Sambo." Then she snapped her fingers. "It's Israeli. I can tell by your stance. _Krav maga,_ yes?"

"I took a couple of self defense classes, if that's what you mean."

She tilted her head. "I do not believe you. Your posture is unusually straight and there is muscle development in places the Israeli military focuses on."

I said nothing, practicing my 'Oh do go on' face. Then she smiled. "But the only way to tell is by your fighting style. Shall we?" And Reyna pointed to the ring, which had just cleared.

I shrugged. I don't ever back down, if you haven't ever figured that out. "Fine."

"Dakota!" She barked. "Gloves!"

A moment or two later this-well, kid- ambled out of an office holding two pairs of boxing gloves. He looked reasonably well toned, but his face was stained with something red. It was too light colored to be blood. I still instantly named him Vampire. Dakota couldn't have been more than 18, but when he spoke his single word, "Ma'am," it was low and gravelly. So more than 18.

We locked the Velcro in place, and began circling each other like wolves.

I fought with no regard to my training, trying to convince the extent of my fighting had been streetside brawling, throwing punches and deliberately leaving myself open to attack. Reyna filled the gaps with her gloves. I didn't lose easily. I gave Reyna five minutes before I let her flip me. To her credit, she was good. If I hadn't been trying to lose, she would have been a worthy opponent.

I hit the mat hard, feeling like a train had just kicked the back of my head. "Yeesh, Ramírez- Arellano, you're mean."

She gave a wan smile and took off a glove to help me up. "Perhaps I was wrong about the _krav maga_. Still, you are very good at defending yourself. Would you care to spar on a later occasion?"

I nodded. "Absolutely. You throw a good punch. When are you open next?"

She looked around the gym, which had emptied, save for one person still on the punching bag, "Every day, fourteen hours. Five to seven."

"Do you sleep?" I asked, taking better notice of the bruise-like circle under her eyes, and the tired yet steely look in her black irises.

She laughed hollowly. "Sleep is a sign of weakness. I need to keep this place running."

"Why? Couldn't you let it go to someone else?"

Reyna stared at me hard, "Would you give up the last remnants of the only family you've ever known?"

~o0o~

I cut my run short by going back to my apartment, showering and changing into a white blouse and black skirt and tying my hair back into a ponytail. Reyna was gracious enough to issue me a month pass to the gym advanced without any payment. "You'll be back. I can tell." She had said.

The drive to the Viridian Tech office was just thirty minutes into Cincinnati and a grand total of forty five from my apartment. When I arrived, I found my parking space (#467) in the underground parking lot. Parking lot is an understatement, by the way, the combined area was probably about half the size of the Spot.

The building itself was noticeable in a subtle way, owing to the fact of the construction. It was a square concrete block, with inset windows forming black lines. It looked like a prison. Appropriate, I thought, seeing as how I wouldn't be allowed to leave it until the project was over. The company name _Viridian Technology_ was emblazoned at the top of the building

I took the elevator to the third floor and looked for a guy named Zhang. He was supposed to lead me around the place, according to the email I'd received. It took maybe thirty seconds. He was standing in front of the first row of cubicles and was wearing an ID tag on a lanyard on top of a white lab coat. "Annabeth Chase?"

I walked toward him and shook the proffered hand. He was well muscled and had a strong (but not unpleasant) grip. "Hi. You must be Mr. Zhang."

He smiled nervously, "Welcome to Viridian Tech, Miss Chase. And please just call me Frank. Everyone does. I'm to give you a tour of your floor level as fast as possible and then get you to your station."

I smiled encouragingly. "Lead the way."

The third floor was entirely filled with cubicles larger than the average size (Frank said this was to allow our minds to expand and think freely), coffee machines, copiers, etc. Frank was full of fun facts, like "The company spends one point two million dollars on coffee each year." Or "If you spend 10 minutes a day in the bathroom every day, it's equivalent to 40 hours paid vacation a year."

We were halfway into the tour and Frank was next to the bathroom demonstrating how to use the ID barcode activated paper towel and sinks (really?), when I noticed that his voice was shaking. I should have noticed it earlier. "Frank are you nervous?"

He jumped. "Uh, why do you ask?"

"Because you look like you were just handed a speech to give to the President."

"Oh." Frank picked at his lab coat.

"You're not a tour giver, are you?" I asked.

"No." He admitted, "I'm a geneticist."

"What are you doing here then? Isn't there a lab for that kind of thing?"

Frank shuffled his feet. "There is but… I kind of did something bad that landed me on tour guide duty."

I waited patiently for him to continue, but when he didn't I prompted him with, "And?"

"I accidentally let loose a genetically modified chicken that crapped all over our boss's desk." Frank whispered.

I covered my mouth to hide the smile, but I think he saw my eyes doing it for me. "It's not funny!"

"Yes, it is!"

He glared at me, "The feces were acidic and burned through the desk and almost through the concrete floor!"

This time I couldn't hold it in, I laughed loud and hard. When I had finally recovered, Frank's arms were crossed and his eyebrows formed a fuzzy caterpillar. "Well you can tell your girlfriend all about it. It makes for a great story."

His arms loosened. "I don't have a girlfriend."

I looked at him, smile still playing on my lips, "Really? But you're so nice!"

"I don't socialize much."

"Oh come on."

"I don't. I don't usually like people."

I put a hand over my heart like I'd been shot. "Not even me? I'm hurt!"

A shadow of the smallest smile showed, "We're about done with the tour anyway. Everything else you can figure out on your own, and you're in row B, cubicle 17. I have to get back to the lab."

I shook his hand again. "Are you working on _Jurassic Park_?"

Frank Zhang stared at me and said, "…No." before walking away.

I watched him go, then turned to find B17. It wasn't hard. There was a man left of me with a poster reading "SLIPKNOT" and a woman on my right with bright red hair, though I couldn't see her face.

I had barely sat down when a man walked up to me. He had lank and greasy blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and wore a black Armani suit with a blue striped tie. This had to be my boss. He carried himself with an air of importance. "Annabeth Chase I presume?"

I was startled by the British accent. "Yes. That's me."

"You will call me Mr. Octavian or sir. Your work has been emailed to you. If we are lucky, the two of us will rarely interact. If not…" His smile failed to even reach his mouth, "I will make your life unpleasant. Good day Miss Chase."

Mr. Octavian left. I turned back to the computer and followed the logon instructions. As I waited for the desktop to boot up, I heard a woman's voice say, "Annabeth Chase?"

 _Oh come on, what now?_ I thought as I looked for the source of my name. It was Redhead. She had green eyes and-

"Are you really Annabeth Chase?"

"Yes?"

"Um, sorry. This is really awkward. The last time we saw each other was at our highschool graduation. And before that you knocked me out because I was drunk and insulted you in front of Percy Jackson."

A metallic taste crossed my tongue. "Dare."

Rachel Elizabeth Dare looked genuinely uncomfortable, "Yeah. Uh. What am I supposed to say after eleven years?"

I looked at her and remembered the way it felt to slap her, over a decade ago. "I'm sorry." I said.

"Okay. I'm sorry Annabeth."

"No," I emphasized. "I'm sorry. I mean, I'm sorry too. It was both of our faults."

Dare nodded. "Watch out for Octavian. He's a dick if he catches you not doing something you're supposed to." And with that, she sat down and left me to my thoughts.

The computer loaded email automatically, and the things I was supposed to do. I sighed, followed the directions, and turned to the drawing board and began to work.

~oOo~

I groaned as I stood up and stretched. I looked out into the city, where it was barely visible to see the evening slipping into the early night. My first week I was required to work eleven hours per day. On top of that, I was supposed to hack into Viridian's system with an automated virus from a USB flash drive the CIA had given me. On the surface it just held some files that seemed innocent enough, but when a secondary button was pressed, the virus would be sent into the Viridian mainframe and upload all of Viridian's information (shipping, projects, and financials) to the CIA cloud. The only problem was, Viridian was capable of seeing which computer had the virus first.

Our floor had no security cameras (which seemed way too convenient), but the computer had to be active and online. And I'm no hacker to begin with.

I began the walk to my car, when I saw Frank in the parking lot. I sprinted over to him. "Hey, Frank! Wait up!"

Frank lurched around and then spotted me. "Oh, um, hi Annabeth."

"What's up Frank? How'd your day go?"

"Oh fine. I can't really talk about it. It's all secretive and I'll lose my job if I say anything regarding it."

"Sounds fun," I said. "Hey… Would you want to get a cup of coffee?"

Frank blushed. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

I hit his shoulder lightly. "No. You were nice to me this morning. I'd like to be nice to you back."

That seemed to cheer him up. "Thanks. But I don't do coffee. There's a pie place right around the corner though. I guess we could go there?"

We talked as we walked. Frank was actually Canadian, despite his Chinese heritage. He'd grown up mostly in Canada, until his mom died in the service and his grandmother had taken him to America to avoid any reminders. "Wait, Annabeth," he said just before we entered the pie store ( _Pie Planet_ ), "Um, there's a girl in there. Well, a waitress. And-"

I smiled, "Sure. I'll try to give off those 'friends only' vibe."

Frank gave me the first smile I'd seen from him, and then held the door for me. We took a booth and I took the chance to look around me. The diner was vintage styled, 1950s and '60's, with lots of stainless steel, turquoise, cream and red shades all around, with light up jukebox in one corner and signed records all over the walls. Autographed photos hung next to these, like Marylin Monroe, Fred Alistair, George Clooney, James Cagney, Alec Guinness, Robert Peck, Audrey Hepburn and so many more.

A cocoa colored woman wearing an overskirt that held many things walked up to us. Her nametag (in that joined-up slanted, angular font on 1960s cars) read _Hazel L._ "Hi Frank. How are you?"

Frank had stood up when she had appeared, then sat back down. "Hazel. Hi. Hi Hazel. I'm good. This is Annabeth, someone I met at work. It's her first time here."

Her smile, which had been warm ten seconds before, now seemed sort of forced. "Hello Annabeth. First time here means you have free choice on any of your first slice of pie."

"Do you have apple pie?" I asked, feeling awkward and stupid. My favorite two feelings.

Hazel raised her eyebrows at Frank who raised his hands and said, "I wanted your reputation to speak for itself."

"We have the best apple pie in Cincinnati. Though our pumpkin comes close. Frank, do you want the usual pecan?"

"Yep." Frank nodded. Hazel wrote it down on her notepad. "Back in a flash." And she smiled at Frank.

We were quiet for a second before Frank said, "Actually, that reminds me. Have you heard of The Flash?"

I shook my head. "What is it?"

He looked at me in surprise, "I'm kind of surprised. He's a superhero. He can run at super speeds. You've really never heard of him?"

"Nope. Is this a TV show or something?"

"Nah. He appears most in Central City."

"That's in… Wisconsin, right?"

"Where were you the last year and a half?" He asked, genuinely curious. _Shit._

"Oh, I traveled around. Never really caught anything about the US."

"Where'd you-" Frank began to ask, but was interrupted by Hazel placing our food and bill down. "Anything else Frank?"

"Um. No. Thanks, Hazel." She smiled at him again before leaving.

We ate in a comfortable silence, because I was too concentrated about the pie I was eating and Frank was too distracted watching Hazel. "You know she likes you, right?"

He blanched. "What? No. No way."

I leaned forward over the remnants of my pie. "If she didn't like you, why was she so cold to me?"

"No way. That's just how she acts. Like I brought a couple of coworkers in because I owed them and she acts the same way."

"Were they female?"

"Yeah? What does… Oh."

I grinned, "Frank you should ask her out!"

He blushed a deep red, "No. Not gonna happen."

"If you don't I'll do it for you."

"Annabeth…" He pleaded, but it was too late. I had already stood up and was making my way toward the counter, where Hazel was now operating the cash register. "Can I help you?"

"I'd like to settle my tab." I handed her my credit card. "Anything else?"

"No, thanks."

I walked back to the table. "C'mon Frank. Time to go."

He peeked out from behind his hands. "Did you actually ask her?"

"Nope. I saved the trouble for you. You've gotta do it someday."

Frank stood up, and walked with me to the door. He and Hazel exchanged pleasant goodbyes, but all I got was a glare. Frank walked with me back to Viridian's parking lot, where we went our separate ways.

A decent first day, considering.


	5. Parks and Recreation

Percy

I delivered the water samples to the testing company early in the morning with my Jeep. I did it to avoid having to take Felicity with me, and I hoped on returning early enough so that she'd never know I was gone. The drive was great. Ever since I was sixteen, I'd loved driving. It's kind of one of those things you don't really notice until you're doing it, but the way the wind feels against your face and how you have total control over the machine you drive- that's probably why Jason enjoyed the F1 races so much. Or maybe it was the _G_ s he pulled while flying around a hairpin curve.

I was on my way home, maybe thirty minutes out, when I spotted a blue pickup from the corner of my eye, and just from the shape of the hood I could tell it was old. I yanked the emergency brake and pulled into a turnaround drift (don't worry, the lanes were empty for a mile out each way). I pulled into the driveway, and climbed out of my Jeep.

The truck was a Ford, from the early 1950s. It was blue and rusted all over. The patina rust covered every square inch of available metal. There were two holes in the windshield, a cracked headlight, rotting bed wood. I heard a screen door snap shut and a woman with maple syrup skin and cinnamon colored hair. I instantly wanted waffles. "Can I help you?" She asked.

"Hi, I'm Percy Jackson," I held out my hand, which she shook, "Do you know the year of this truck?"

"Hazel Levesque," She scratched the back of her head, "It used to be my grandad's. I never learned anything about it except that the engine was the best one you could get, and it doesn't run," and she pointed to the stylized V8 logo on the grille. "Take a look for however long you like. I've got to get to work. Door's unlocked."

I thanked Hazel as she got into her Honda and drove away. I looked at the truck for another fifteen minutes, then left my name and number on the cracked vinyl seat for Miss Levesque. I climbed back in the Jeep and drove back home.

Remember how it's like, before nine in the morning? Felicity's always a late sleeper. And heavy. She's slept on boats during thunderstorms, during the worst turbulence _ever_ in a six seat airplane, she even slept through a hurricane!

Well, today was the day that apparently changed. For starters, the barn was dripping a bright new shiny red color from ground level to four feet up, the front lawn was failing to absorb any more water from the hose, the old Catalina was out of the barn and was sitting on the gravel, running, and the house looked like the aluminum siding had been power washed.

I pulled into the drive, killed the Jeep, and went to turn the key off of the Catalina. The key was kind of stuck, but it turned. I jogged over to the spigot and turned the valve shut, then went inside to see if anyone was still alive.

"Hello?" I called, entering the living room and shutting the front door behind me. A knee-high blur blew through the swinging kitchen doors, "Daddy!"

She hugged my knee. "I was scared! You said goodnight and never said good morning."

I picked her up, carried her to the kitchen, and then set her down on a chair. "Felicity, I've been gone for maybe two hours. What happened?"

Her face went blank. "Maybe it was the lemur in the barn."

"Do you even know- _lemurs_ can't paint barns, Felicity."

Her eyes wandered around the ceiling, "Maybe the squirrels did it."

"Felicity-" I paused. "It's incredibly difficult to say your full name angrily when you only have two names. Felicity Jackson," I paused again for dramatic effect, "What. Did. You. Do?"

Felicity's small mouth curved downwards. "You were gone. Grandma and Grandpa are still sleeping. I was worried you'd left!"

She burst into tears. Do you realize how hard it is to watch a kid cry and not want to comfort them? It can melt walls. I knelt down on one knee and hugged her, placing a gentle kiss on her head, "I'm not going anywhere, 'Liss. Why would you think that?"

"Because someone left me already!" Felicity sobbed. She pulled me in tighter, "What kind of person _does_ that?"

"It doesn't matter Felicity. You've got me. And you're all I've got."

"You have parents!"

I smiled sadly as I pulled out of the embrace and held her by her small shoulders. "I mean in family. When I first picked you up on that beach, I didn't want to put you down. We traveled together for four years, remember? It was almost always just the two of us," I wiped the tears from Felicity's cheeks with my thumbs, "'Liss, you became my partner. You taught me a new meaning for what it's like to care for someone. You reflect life itself in its unpredictability. You even taught me how to actually cook."

I pulled her into another hug, which she returned. "I'm not going anywhere Felicity. Not without you."

Felicity sniffled, and wiped her nose on the back of her hand. "Okay." She whispered.

I gave her a full tooth smile, "Now what do you say we surprise Grandma and Grandpa with French Toast?"

She smiled right back, some of her energy returning, "Blueberries?"

"Those are waffles, Felicity."

"Oh."

By the time Mom and Paul were up, Felicity and I had made a good-sized mess in the kitchen. The radio was quietly playing _Basin Street Blues_ by Louis Armstrong, and you'd have never known Felicity had been sad. Right as Paul walked in, Felicity discovered that clapping two flour-filled hands produced great results in the 'Looks like a blonde ghost' department. "Oh man. I smell French Toast."

"Yay! Grandpa's here!" the little blonde cried, now covered from face down in a fine white dusting. "Morning Paul."

"Morning Perce," He ran a hair through his salt-and-pepper hair. Did I see a few more white hairs in the midst? "I don't suppose I could have a couple of those? I'm starved."

"Sure. Just… hang on." I rummaged through the kitchen cabinets. It had to be here somewhere. "Aha!" I said triumphantly, as I pulled out the little bottle of liquid and added it to the French Toast already on the gas stove. Instantly the droplets blossomed a dark midnight blue on the bread. "You're still obsessed with blue, aren't you?"

"Hey, it's the best color. It goes with dang near everything," I defended. Felicity climbed on the counter and searched through the same cabinet I had found the blue food coloring. "Purple is better," She added, holding up a similar bottle with purple food coloring. "I want to do it on mine."

I shrugged, signifying _why not_ to her. I flipped Paul's toast, let it sizzle for a minute, and then dropped it on a plate. "Your _hors devoir,_ my good sir."

"Oh thank you." And without any other preamble, he grabbed a fork and began to eat.

"Grandpa, don't you want syrup?" Felicity asked.

"Ha! But not for the wide world!" Paul said, pointing his fork at her.

"Paul did you just seriously misquote Shakespeare in front of a six year old?"

"Well school's almost out and I have to vent somewhere."

Felicity knew exactly one phrase of Shakespeare. Or so I thought. "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day…" she started.

Paul caught on, "Thou art more lovely and more temperate:"

"Rough winds do shake the darling buds of… um, May,"

"And summer's lease hath all too short a date:"

"Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,"

"And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;"

"And every fair… from… fair sometime declines,"

"By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;"

"But… Thine? No, thy. Thy eternal summer shall not fade"

"Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;"

Nor shall Death brag thou… Thou wander'st in his… shade,"

"When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;"

"So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,"

"So long lives this, and this gives life to thee," Mom finished. "Very good Felicity."

She flushed with pride. I took a purple piece of toast off the stove and gave it to Felicity on a plate. "Mom, you want any?"

"Two if you're making them."

"Felicity, pass the syrup." Felicity passed Paul the maple syrup. He took a bite and savored the taste. "Perfect with or without syrup. Thanks Percy."

"No problem," I said as I settled down with my own plate, placing Mom's next me.

"Any plans today Percy?

I swallowed a mouthful of food, "Well Felicity and I are going to finish painting the barn and then I'm thinking of going up to Wright Patterson in Dayton."

"Or you could go to the Union Terminal." Paul said.

"That's true," Mom agreed. "You could also go to the park down the street and get some exercise."

"'Licity, what do you want to do?" I asked, looking to the syrup and flour covered mess.

"Park!" She said enthusiastically.

We finished breakfast, cleaned our plates and went outside to the barn. Within six minutes Felicity looked like a bleeding ghost that had fallen into a vat of maple syrup. She stood on my shoulders to reach the highest places with her roller and dropped paint on me. I'm pretty certain she was doing that on purpose. It took us almost an hour to finish the barn. It looked good, but without any prepwork or primer it would only last a few weeks. Ah well.

"C'mon Felicity. You need a bath."

"But I'm just going to get sweaty again!"

I thought for a second before realizing she was using my own laziness logic against me. "I can't go out in public looking like you just murdered a bag of flour, 'Liss. Nice try."

I forced her into the tub. She fought against every single scrub movement. "I can do it myself!"

"If I let you do it yourself you'll just end up sitting here playing with my rubber duck."

Once she was reasonably presentable, I toweled her down and gave her some clothes from her duffel bag. I then took my own shower and got dressed for a short walk.

The day was sunny and hot now, and Felicity ran through a fountain on the way there and got soaked. I sighed and let her keep running through it. Felicity kept this up for a while, she loved water. Probably more than me.

We walked into the park after she got tired of the fountain, where immediately she started running up and down, swinging across the monkey bars and going down the slides. I sat on the bench and drew in a sketchpad. The pad was a gift from Felicity the moment she had understood what a birthday entailed. I'd had it for two years already, it was filled with drawings of little gadgets I'd thought of, animals we'd seen, fish, Felicity's colorful scribbles and my sketches of her. I drew Felicity chasing a robin. I tried in particular to get the wings and her smile right, but her hair flying behind her turned out pretty well, too.

A dark haired woman sat down next to me, releasing the hand of a small child. "That's pretty good. I guess that's your daughter?"

"No, I haven't picked one yet," I said.

The look I got back was priceless. I fought for a little bit to keep a straight face, then gave in to laughter. When I recovered, I said, "Yeah. Her name's Felicity."

The woman looked a little miffed, but was obviously glad I wasn't serious. "Mine's Nicole." She gestured to the black haired girl now chasing Felicity around. "I'm Sarah. Sarah Elektra."

We shook hands. "Elektra?"

"My great-grandfather worked with Edison and Tesla. Wanted his name to be remembered because of that, so he changed it. The work kind of got passed along the male line, my granddad was an electrician, my dad an electronics nut."

"And you?"

Sarah laughed. "Are you kidding? I'm a boutique shop owner. My husband works at Valdez International. He took my name because he liked it more than his own. Do you know of Valdez International? You don't look like you've been around here much."

It was my turn to laugh, "No, I haven't been around here recently, but I do know Leo."

Her eyes widened. "Really? Leo Valdez? No way."

"Way. I went to high school with him and even helped him design his first successful racecar. He built it off of a Ford truck frame from the 1960's, back in shop class. The first time he drove it..."

As Nicole and Felicity played endless games, Sarah and I fell into a great conversation, since her husband, Michael, usually was the one fixing the planes Jason wrecked. She was also very interested in the work I did, especially the work in Australia. I showed her some of the sketches I'd done while there, a black and white of the Great Barrier Reef and a colored pencil sunset view from the top of a sand dune. Sarah said she and Michael had gone there for their honeymoon, and they'd loved it but Michael liked his work too much to leave Cincinnati.

The sun reached its zenith and I opened the bag I had packed. "Want an apple?" I offered. "No, thanks. Maybe Nicole-"

Felicity ran past me, swiped the apple out of my hand and tossed it, underhanded, to Nicole who shouted a thank you. I rolled my eyes and offered Sarah a power bar, which she accepted. Sarah and I exchanged phone numbers before we left. "I think my husband would like to meet you, and I think Felicity and Nicole would like to play together again."

The two ran up. "Daddy, daddy! Look what we found!" Nicole and Felicity held up a piece of rock with the imprint of a trilobite easily ten inches longs, the rock must have weighed fifty pounds. "Mom can we keep it?"

I took it out of their hands and set it next to the bench. "No." I said firmly. "A dog, maybe, but not a piece of rock."

"Awww!" They cried in unison. "Come on Nicole," Sarah said, leading her away and giving me a goodbye wave.

"Bye Felicity!"

"Bye Nicole!"

Felicity and I took the path around the rest of the park for her to blow off some energy, then headed home to get the car. Like I said, it was a short walk. "Hey, Felicity, how about we take the Catalina out for a spin?"

"You mean the Big Blue Boat?"

I looked at her for a second, "Sure. The Big Blue Boat."

"Can I help you fix it?"

"Sure."

"Can I push the buttons?" She meant the pedals. "Yeah."

"Can I drive?"

"Yea- No. Nice try blondie."

We walked home, stopping every now and then for me to point out various important areas, "And there's where I fell off my first skateboard," and that kind of thing.

The car Felicity had started was a blue 1967 Pontiac Catalina convertible with a hi-compression V8. I'd inherited it indirectly from my mom's dad. It was a cool car, but it had fallen to disrepair again while I was away. There were spots that had begun to rust again, the rear bumper was bent from where Paul whacked into the Jeep.

I pulled the hood up, confirmed all terminals for the coil and distributor were intact and in decent condition. Then I checked all the basic stuff, like oil and coolant levels. As soon as the hood latched shut, the engine started turning over. I think Felicity's known the theory of driving for about a year, she likes the way the engine starts. The engine coughed and growled before kicking itself to life, a small puff of white and black smoke shooting out the rear of the car. I frowned. I might have to fix something.

Felicity gingerly pushed the throttle, the engine roaring in response. "'Liss, let's go for a ride!" I yelled. The engine died down.

"Can I-"

"Not until you're sixteen. Budge up."

"Awwww." But she moved over anyway.

I stepped into the low slung car, feeling like I was back in high school. "Where do you want to go?"

"Pizza?"

"No. How about a drive to the river?"

"Okay!" And then she muttered, "Pizza later, I hope."

I ignored that part.

It seemed so natural to throw the shifter into reverse and set the car to leave the driveway. When we did, I floored the accelerator to rip our heads off. Just for fun. The rear tires spit gravel everywhere, and we tore down the road. I downshifted only when we came to a stoplight, where a hybrid rolled silently up next to us. A bleach blonde with far too much plastic surgery sat in the passenger's seat. She admired my apparently-obvious abdomen (seriously, it's just a six pack. Get over it.) and toned shoulders. Hey, you get stuff if you swim and work on a beach half of your life. "Nice ride." She said. Maybe she was sincere. I didn't care, it was too weird getting checked out in front of my daughter. I saw the opposite direction's light change to yellow and I shifted into first. Before I could even really ignore the girl, Felicity took action.

"Nice hair, Barbie! Where'd you get it, at the-"

Whatever Felicity said was lost in my flooring the accelerator and dropping the clutch. When we had put about a quarter of a mile between the Prius and the Cat, I drove quietly and said, "Felicity, you didn't need to say that."

"You weren't going to say anything! I fixed it for you. We protect each other."

" _I_ protect _you_. There's a difference."

She looked sulky. "You said we were partners. Partners are in it together."

I pulled into a gas station and killed the engine at a pump. "You're right. But sometimes you don't have to do things. Let me handle situations like that." I got out of the car and motioned for her to do the same.

"But you and Annabeth are supposed to be the ones who like each other."

I groaned and pointed a finger at her, "Don't you give me advice on my love life until you're old enough to actually know what dating someone is like." I turned to go into the station and she instinctively reached up and took my hand.

"But you like each other…" Felicity said as we entered through the doors. I browsed through the cookies section (non-messy foods are best for you-know-who) silently to give myself a minute to think. "I wish it weren't this way 'Liss. Of course I like her. I think she still likes me too, but some things can't happen until they're supposed to happen. And no matter what, not even Annabeth could stop me from putting you first."

I paid for the snacks and gas. "But what if I want you to put you first?"

"Not gonna happen Felicity. You're always first." I offered her the Oreos as we walked back outside.

She put on a pouty face, but accepted the cookies. "Thanks Dad. Do you think you'll ever date her?"

"Annabeth?" I began fueling the Cat, "I hope so. But that's the future, and something I can afford to think on later. What about you? How'd you like Nicole?"

Felicity's face lit up. "She's so cool! She likes painting and drawing and running around, climbing, and building stuff!"

I smiled. "Do you think she liked you?"

"I hope so. I want to see her again."

The pump clicked. "Done." I announced. Felicity was already buckled in, and I followed suit. Soon we were pulling seventy down the highway towards the Ohio River. We stopped off at an old park I knew, Eden. The air was warm, but it would probably get colder soon now that evening had begun. Felicity and I ran through the park, scaring birds and squirrels and running up to a ledge that overlooked restaurants, housing, and all types of boats moving up and downstream.

We sat there for three hours. More accurately, I sat there for three hours while Felicity ran around. It was peaceful if you ignored the yells of a small six year old every time she found something new, interesting, or weird. It was a public park, and for a kid who spent most of her life on beaches that included just about everything.

I stood up and stretched when the clock hit seven. I looked around, "Felicity!"

No response. I began feeling panicked, and began to walk around where I'd last seen her, "Felicity!"

Nothing. "FELICI-"

"BOO!" She swung down from a tree by her legs

I tried my best to be angry, but really I was just relieved. "Don't disappear on me like that!"

Felicity gave me the 'you just barbecued my kitten' look, "But I wanted to have fun! I got bored. You weren't doing anything."

I rubbed my face. "You need a hobby."

"What's a hobby?" She took my hand as we began walking back to the Catalina.

"It's something someone does for fun and to keep themselves busy." I thought for a second. "Like me with drawing."

"Oh." She was quiet until we got to the car. "If I get a hobby can I use explosives?"

I started the car and put it in gear, "No. What is it with you and breaking stuff anyway?"


End file.
